Autoimmunity News and Research

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Autoimmune Disease is a condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.

Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis: an interview with Dr. Stan Naides, Medical Director, Quest Diagnostics

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that can cause debilitating joint damage. In cases of RA, the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, especially the membranes that line the joints. As a result, fluid builds up in the joints, causing pain and systemic inflammation, leading to joint destruction if untreated.

From Quest Diagnostics 23 Apr 2013

Rheumatoid arthritis blood tests launched by Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, announced the availability of two new blood tests for aiding the early diagnosis of arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disorder that can cause debilitating joint damage.

From Quest Diagnostics 9 Apr 2013

AIM suppression could help prevent obesity-associated diseases

Obesity is linked to the widespread epidemics of diabetes and heart disease that plague society, but a lesser-known fact is that the weight can also lead to autoimmune disease.

5 Apr 2013

arGEN-X advances ARGX-112 into formal preclinical development

arGEN-X, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specialized in the discovery and development of highly differentiated human monoclonal antibody therapeutics, announces that it has progressed ARGX-112, its fourth therapeutic candidate, into formal preclinical development.

25 Mar 2013

MGH investigators identify new disease that causes widespread chronic pain in children

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have described what may be a newly identified disease that appears to explain some cases of widespread chronic pain and other symptoms in children and young adults.

13 Mar 2013

Salty diet may trigger autoimmune disease

Results from two studies published in Nature show that eating a salty diet may trigger the development of autoimmunity.

7 Mar 2013

Insight into how Th17 cell growth influences development of immune responses

New work from the Broad Institute's Klarman Cell Observatory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, MIT, and Yale University expands the understanding of how one type of immune cell - known as a T helper 17 or Th17 cell - develops, and how its growth influences the development of immune responses.

7 Mar 2013

Salt can induce and worsen pathogenic immune system responses in mice

For the past few decades, health officials have been reporting increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Now researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have identified a prime suspect in the mystery - dietary salt.

7 Mar 2013

Synthetic progesterone birth control injections have vulnerability to certain infections: Research

Women who are pregnant or using synthetic progesterone birth control injections have a conspicuous vulnerability to certain infections including malaria, Listeria, HIV, and herpes simplex virus.

2 Mar 2013

AARDA to mark National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month with new initiatives

March is National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month 2013. To mark the annual event, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association Inc. (AARDA) is encouraging the national and local media around the country to report stories on autoimmune diseases (AD) and autoimmunity as a category of disease.

13 Feb 2013

Case Western Reserve receives $220,000 grant to study gastric cancers

The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $220,000 grant from the DeGregorio Family Foundation to study gastric cancers, which remain among the most deadly forms of disease.

11 Feb 2013

Scientists identify specific cellular events that appear key to lupus

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified specific cellular events that appear key to lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that afflicts tens of millions of people worldwide. The findings suggest that blocking this pathway in lupus-triggering cells could be a potent weapon against the disease.

5 Feb 2013

Mcl-1 gene essential for survival of antibody-producing cells

Scientists have identified the gene essential for survival of antibody-producing cells, a finding that could lead to better treatments for diseases where these cells are out of control, such as myeloma and chronic immune disorders.

3 Feb 2013

Scientists discover role of OTUD7B enzyme as TRAF3's protector

Marked for death with molecular tags that act like a homing signal for a cell's protein-destroying machinery, a pivotal enzyme is rescued by another molecule that sweeps the telltale targets off in the nick of time.

21 Jan 2013

Early life exposure to gut microbes protects against autoimmune disease

Early life exposure to normal bacteria of the GI tract (gut microbes) protects against autoimmune disease in mice, according to research published on-line in the January 17 edition of Science. The study may also have uncovered reasons why females are at greater risk of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus compared to males.

18 Jan 2013

New insights into relationship between autoimmunity and brain function

A study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics by a group of French investigators of the University of Paris unravels new insights as to the relationship between autoimmunity and brain function.

30 Nov 2012

Study shows how PTPN22 variant linked with T1D influences susceptibility to autoimmunity

As part of their ongoing research on the role of genes in the development of type 1 diabetes, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Würzburg, have demonstrated how a genetic variant associated with type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases influences susceptibility to autoimmunity. The findings appear in the upcoming issue of Diabetes.

29 Nov 2012

High-resolution real-time images show how nerves may be damaged during earliest stages of MS

High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, leaks into the central nervous system and activates immune cells called microglia.

28 Nov 2012

Complix to accelerate development of CPABs against intracellular disease targets

Complix announces that it has been awarded a €1.9 million grant (approximately USD$2.4 million) from the Flanders government through IWT (Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders).

30 Oct 2012

Autoantibody aids identification of hyperexcitability disorders

Researchers have found that testing for a glycine receptor autoantibody aids the identification of a broad spectrum of autoimmune brainstem/spinal cord hyperexcitability disorders.

29 Oct 2012